FOOD SCIENCE TO FUEL NEW JETS

Food scientists are using their expertise to ‘cook up’ new gelled fuels to be used in missiles, space rockets and satellites

MUMBAI MIRROR BUREAU

Engineers and food scientists in the US are teaming up to develop a new type of gelled fuel that has the consistency of orange marmalade. The fuel is designed to improve the safety, performance and range of rockets for space and military applications.

“This is a multidisciplinary project,” said Stephen Heister, the Purdue University professor of aeronautics and astronautics who is leading the five-year, $6.4-million project, funded by the US Army Research Office.

Gels are inherently safer than liquids because they don’t leak, and they would also allow the military to better control rockets than is possible with solid fuels used currently. Motors running on gelled fuels could be throttled up and down, and controlled more precisely than conventional rockets that use solid propellants, Heister said.

“You can turn the engine on and off, you can coast, go fast or slow,” he said. “You have much greater control, which means more range for missiles. The gelled propellants also tend to have a little more energy than the solid propellants.”

Gelled fuels could also be used in thrusters to position satellites and on NASA space missions.

FOOD SCIENCE?

The team includes researchers from mechanical engineering, aeronautics and astronautics, food science, and agricultural and biological engineering at Purdue – as well as boffins from Iowa State University and University of Massachusetts.

The project will primarily tap the expertise of food scientists and food engineers, who are accustomed to working with gels, said Carlos Corvalan, an associate professor of food science.

“Gels are more complex than ordinary solids and fluids,” Corvalan said. “Fluids are characterised by viscosity, and solids are characterised by elasticity. Because gels share properties of both solids and fluids, they possess viscoelastic properties, or a combination of both.”

Food science and agricultural engineering researchers will study these viscoelastic properties and create simulations describing how the gels behave.

Rockets in the future could require that gelled propellants be sprayed by fuel injectors into a motor’s combustion chamber at rates of thousands of kilograms per second.

Using the gelled propellants, however, will require a thorough knowledge of how the fuel breaks into droplets as it is being sprayed into the chamber.

LIKE ORANGE MARMALADE...
Purdue faculty members and graduate students at the university’s Department of Food Science and in the School of Agricultural and Biological Engineering are conducting experiments aimed at developing a comprehensive spray model that describes the precise behaviour of propellant droplets in a rocket motor.

One aim is to be able to consistently create the relatively small, uniform droplets that would be needed for rocket propulsion. Food scientists are familiar with processes used to create droplets in foods.

“The texture of those foods is closely associated with the average size and range of sizes of droplets,” said Osvaldo Campanella, a professor of agricultural and biological engineering. “In a combustion chamber, you also want to control droplet size to precisely control combustion. You want uniform combustion, and for that you need controlled drop size.”

Researchers will first work with water-based gels that simulate fuels and will eventually conduct experiments using actual propellants.

“It’s kind of like orange marmalade without the rind,” Heister said. “We are going to make this gel and push it through holes and study how it flows and how big the drops are. Eventually we’ll study the real gelled fuels, which can be quite hazardous and reactive, so we will use them in small quantities and under tightly controlled conditions.”

Information from experiments and modelling will then be used to design new-age gel fuels and systems that have improved combustion.

Purdue researchers (from left) Tim Phillips, Mark James, Timothee Pourpoint and Travis Kubal pose with a new lab apparatus – designed by Pourpoint, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics – that will be used to test gelled rocket fuels. An interdisciplinary team of engineers and food scientists is developing the new fuels to improve the safety, performance and range of rockets for space and military applications

QUANTUM OF SOLACE IN NEW 70:30 QUOTA PILL

Students From MMR Will Be Considered ‘Locals’ For Junior College Admissions

Anahita Mukherji | TNN

Mumbai: Quotas will be back in junior college admissions, but in a far more palatable format. While the previous 70:30 reservation policy, which made it mandatory for all junior colleges to reserve 70 per cent seats for students from the same district, had students crying all the way, the new system has provided some solace.

The earlier policy divided Mumbai into three districts—South Mumbai, suburbs and Greater Mumbai— the government has now announced that the entire Mumbai Metropolitan Region will be considered a single district. Last year, when the policy was announced, students from the suburbs found themselves at a disadvantage while applying to South Mumbai colleges, as they could not make it in the local quota. Similar was the case with Thane students applying to Mumbai colleges. That will change this year.

Both teachers and students agreed the new rule was more student-friendly. “Expanding the 70 per cent quota to include students from the MMR will include a wider selection for colleges,” said Kirti Narain, principal of Jai Hind College, Churchgate. “It will be good for all students, whether or not they live near colleges of their choice,” said Shivika Poonglia, a Class X student from Fort.

“If colleges are unable to fill in 30 per cent of the seats with outside students, they can fill in the vacant seats with local students. The same goes for the 70 per cent quota,’’ said state education secretary Sanjay Kumar.

For Mumbai students, it will mean stiff competition for a junior college seat, as they will have to compete with students from Thane and Navi Mumbai in the local quota. “This system will make it tough for Mumbai students to get a seat in a good college,’’ felt Vishesh Sharma, a class X student from Andheri.

Students from other parts of the country, such as Delhi or Bangalore, will benefit from the system as they will only compete with other students from outside the region and not the brightest students from Mumbai while applying to a college. The cutoff will be different for local students and outside students.

The 70:30 reservation policy, based on a little-known government resolution passed in 2003, came to prominence in 2008 thanks to parents of a student who didn’t get admission in the first merit list. The government then asked colleges to follow the order. Thane corporator Pratap Sarnaik filed a PIL against the 70:30 system in the High Court last year, after which the government withdrew the order, faced with stiff resistance from the public.

WHO WINS OR LOSES COLABA THEN: While applying to a South Mumbai college, a Colaba student would have had an edge over his suburban counterparts as there was a 70 per cent reservation for students from the South Mumbai district. If applying to a suburban college, he would have been at a disadvantage as suburban students would have been given preference.

NOW: The Colaba student will be part of the 70 per cent quota for local students, irrespective of the college he applies to, within Mumbai city, suburbs as well as Navi Mumbai and beyond. But seat in a South Mumbai college might get a trifle tough as he will be competing with students from the entire Mumbai Metropolitan Region, including Navi Mumbai and Thane.

BORIVALI THEN: The Borivali student was at a distinct disadvantage while applying to South Mumbai colleges, including those in Sion and Matunga. He would only be able to apply under the 30 per cent quota set aside for students from outside the district. He would, however, have an edge while applying to suburban colleges.

NOW: The student will not only be part of the 70 per cent quota for locals in suburban colleges, but also those in South Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane. However, with students from these regions also included in the definition of a ‘local student,’ there will be stiff competition getting into either a South Mumbai or suburban college.

THANE THEN: The student would have been at a disadvantage while applying to any college in Mumbai, whether South Mumbai or the suburbs, as he would have been considered an ‘outside’ student, for whom only 30 per cent of seats were set aside.

NOW: The student has an added advantage when compared with the previous system, as well as the regular admission system sans the 70:30 quota. He will be considered a local student when compared to a Mumbai college and will be part of the 70 per cent quota for locals.

THE OLD AND THE NEW
Under the old 70:30 quota system, Mumbai was divided into three regions, Mumbai South, Suburban and Greater Mumbai. Junior colleges had to reserve 70% seats for students from the same district. Under the new system, the entire Mumbai Metropolitan Region, which includes parts of Thane and Navi Mumbai as well, will be part of the same region.

RESERVATIONS ABOUT A RESOLUTION

2003: The state government passed a resolution making it mandatory for junior colleges to reserve 70% seats for students from the district

Early July 2008: Parents of a student who did not make it to the first merit list dug out the little-known resolution and approached the education department. The government then sent a circular to all colleges asking them to implement the rule

July 5: Several colleges delayed releasing the second merit list as they were unsure about how to implement it

July 8: Thane municipal corporator Pratap Sarnaik filed a petition in the High Court against the rule

July 9: The High Court stayed all junior college admissions after the petition was filed

July 14, 2008: Faced with public ire, the government withdrew its petition even before it could be heard in court

STUDENT FROM OUTSIDE THE MMR
Such a student will not be considered part of the local quota, both in Mumbai or those parts of Thane or Navi Mumbai that fall within MMR. Those who fall within the MMR will get lucky, but those just outside the region will have missed the bus, which leaves them no different from last time.

STUDENT FROM OTHER STATES
Since Mumbai colleges do not usually get more than 30 per cent of students applying from outside the city, those who do will be at an advantage as nearly all will fit in the quota reserved for them. What’s more, they will no longer need to compete with the best students from within Mumbai for a seat as the cut-offs for them will be different.

This is a very good move, better than the manner in which the quota was earlier going to be implemented, where Mumbai was divided into the suburban and city districts. Our college was part of the South Mumbai region, but we were on the border of both districts. Now, with most of our students anyway from the MMR, I don’t think we’ll face a problem filling 70% of the seats.
K Viswanathan | TRUSTEE, SIES COLLEGE, SION

It will be tougher for Mumbai students to get into colleges of their choice as many will not make the quota.
Vishesh Sharma | SSC STUDENT, HOLY FAMILY SCHOOL, ANDHERI

The new system will be good for all students, whether they stay near or far from colleges.
Shivika Poonglia | ICSE STUDENT, JB PETIT HIGH SCHOOL, FORT

It’s good that they have taken the whole region into account as this will benefit students from the area who would have earlier had to compete with outside students who had high scores. But I don’t really think it’s necessary to have such a system. Since students from outside Mumbai with high scores apply to our college, I am sure there will not be problem filling up the 30% reservation
Fr Frazer Mascarenhas | PRINCIPAL, ST XAVIER’S COLLEGE, DHOBI TALAO

I am all for the 70% reservation for local students but I hope that the 30% seats reserved for outside students will not be rigidly implemented, since more than 85% of the students who apply to my college are local students. If the 30% reservation for outside students is rigidly implemented, then the cut -off for these students will be a lot lower than the cut-off for the local students. This will be an injustice to the locals. Dr Kiran Mangaonkar | PRINCIPAL, MITHIBAI COLLEGE, VILE PARLE

FLYING HIGH

Winged dreams

Nilakshi Sharma

Indian dreams are soaring to an all time. Scores of young Indians across the rural urban divide are united in their aspiration of flying high, both literally and metaphorically. The aviation industry in India is one of the most vibrant sectors of growth. The Indian aviation industry, with its staggering compound annual growth rate of 18 per cent in 2008 is still on an upward surge. The projected growth rate of India's civil aviation passenger is a whopping 20 per cent, one of the highest in the world.

Being a pilot seems like a dream career choice. The remuneration is substantial and the job is associated with both, travelling the world over and a sense of glamour. The requirements do not seem arduous. A 10+2 degree in sciences with a minimum of 50 per cent marks is the basic. The next step is training in flying and acquiring a recognised Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL). The next step is the series of examinations conducted by the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA), government of India. This consists of two medical examinations, a practical test and a written examination. Regardless of the validity of the CPL granted by say the FAA or Federal Aviation Authority (USA) or the European Joint Aviation Authority (JAA) a pilot cannot fly in the Indian skies without DGCA qualifications.

On average training can take anywhere from six months to two years depending on variable factors such as the student's learning curve and the school's curriculum. But the bottom line is money. CPL training is expensive. Mostly students head to foreign schools because until recently the schools in India were both, very few and plagued by infrastructural problems. With the recent crop of aviation schools being opened here such as the Orient Flight School in Chennai that lack is being addressed. But schools in countries such as Philippines continue to attract students in droves because they seem to offer the best deals in terms of time and money. The approximate cost cited hovers around Rs.20 lakhs. But that is actually a misleading figure because that turns out to be the minimum cost. Usually it amounts to upwards of Rs.40 lakhs. Deepak Raj Singh, founder International School of Aviation (ISA) in Delhi and the authorised recruiting agent for flight schools, is candid in warning aspirants. Be prepared for a substantial financial investment. He is wary of students who are mortgaging their all just to meet the stipulated fee.

Factors such as a hike in jet aviation fuel prices can increase training costs without warning. To add to the problems there are the horror stories of students being left in the lurch in alien lands when the school suddenly goes bust. Before opting for pilot training the aspiring student needs to be wary of the pitfalls. Unfortunately, there is a critical lack of organised information. Ideally, before committing to a school and the training program the student should compare the widest range of options possible and the research should be intensive.

Michael Sturgis, president of K&S Aviation Services, Inc., a highly regarded school in Phoenix, USA, took the time to answer a few questions dealing with the most basic issues confronting an aspirant.

For the aspiring indian students what should be kept in mind while choosing a school?

The most important decision in an airline pilots' career is the one that is made before training begins. The selection of a training institution will profoundly affect the direction, speed and overall success of an airline career. Becoming an airline pilot is much more than just flight training, accumulating flight hours and acquiring basic flying skills in general aviation aircraft. Unfortunately that is all that most "flight schools" provide world wide.

Developments in the airline industry have prompted airlines to look for commercial pilots that have more to offer than just technical flight competencies in small, general aviation aircraft. The industry demands competent, effective and efficient First Officers or Co-Pilots with prior Large Transport experience. Present industry training paradigms have forced many airline training departments to become flight schools of sorts and incurred enormous expenses training their cadets to acceptable levels of competencies. The aspiring students should address and require that their training be geared towards their goal that of becoming an airline pilot on a jet transport. .

What are common mistakes made by aspiring students?
Choosing a flight school purely based on price. Flight schools often base their prices on minimum required flight times. These are regulatory minimums and are seldom achieved by a student pilot. Students should calculate with a 20% buffer. Another mistake is choosing a flight school which cannot cater effectively towards their goal. As was said above, most flight schools do not cater to proper airline training. If a student wants to engage in this process with an agent, they should choose a reputable agent with a successful and identifiable track record of satisfied customers and not because he is the most popular for the moment.

NEW AGE CAREERS

Making the right choice

Be it IT or management, games designing or fashion merchandising, North India is increasingly becoming the mecca of education offering every education option or career choice imaginable

Moving around the northern belt of India, you will not only come across industries, agricultural farm land and the historical monuments but also the huge hoardings of educational institutes all over the place. New age educational institutions have sprung up in large number over the passage of time, while traditional educational institutions like Banaras Hindu University, Aligarh University, Allahabad University, Delhi University,

Kurukshetra University, Punjab University, Delhi and Kanpur IITs and Lucknow and Indore IIMs, etc., have paved an all new way for thousands of young minds to choose their career path.

An interesting thing to note about the new age institutions is that apart from offering regular courses like engineering, management and applied sciences; they also offer different courses all together pertaining to upcoming and budding sectors such as entertainment, travel, hospitality, aviation, advertising and mass communication. Moreover with the burgeoning of different industries in the northern belt, new age careers such as Actuarial Science, Retail management, Hospitality management, Animation, etc., are now taking the top seat as youngsters preferred choice, as these career options help you get a feel of self worth and self esteem, apart from facilitating your livelihood. Here’s a sneak peak at some of these emerging new age career options that various educational institutions in North India offer:

Hospitality Management

With the Indian government’s ‘Incredible India’ campaign having proved a major success, India has seen a steady flow of visitors not only looking out for leisure but also seeking health and with a curiosity about the heritage and spirituality of the country. With such a booming hospitality industry, the sky is now the limit for the youngsters who wish to become a part of this fascinating hospitality industry. The employment graph of this industry is continuously rising as career in hospitality sector opens up various opportunities related to the service industries like hotels, restaurants, health care, spa centers, café's bars, discotheques, various clubs and many more.

Retail Management

Today, the retail industry is considered amongst the largest in India. There are a number of retail marketing jobs out there, wherein one is not a sales executive, but one who creates and supervises sales strategies in the retail market. It is a challenging job, as marketing is far more difficult than actual selling. In marketing one is involved in brand building and brand maintaining.The work profile of a retail professional involves developing marketing gimmicks along with the marketing team. Whereas, one has to shoulder far greater responsibility if one is employed to look at the retail sales of all outlets stationed at the mall.

Actuarial Science

An actuary is a business professional who analyses the financial consequences of risk and Actuarial Science is the science of insurance. Being a multi-disciplinary field, it revolves around the study of uncertain future events, especially those of concern to insurance and pension programmes.

An actuary has several options to exercise his skills. Ranging from insurance companies, consulting firms, the government, employee benefits departments of large corporations, hospitals, banks and investment firms or, to a more general need for managing financial risk, an actuary can do it all.

Animation

If you have a passion for figures and a creative eye for detail, a career in animation could well be your ultimate destination. Though Animation' sounds simple but a lot of work goes into its preparation. It is the art of conceiving an action by drawing inanimate objects or characters, which are made suitable for filming.

There are ample career opportunities in the 3-D animation industry and a passion for the job can take aspirants to great heights. Though one need not be an artist to be a successful animator, he/she should have basic appreciation of art and the requisite skills can be honed at the college. You can be absorbed at various levels depending on your skill sets, as graphics designer, visual artist, supervisor, digital film animator, senior animator, content writer, clean up artist, web designer or web author. What's more, there is no age limit for learning and one can be successful even at a late age.

(Compiled by Suruchi Sharma)

‘Solar energy can light up India’s villages’

Q& A

Stuart Irvine, director, Centre for Solar Energy Research, North Wales, tells Narayani Ganesh that efficient and affordable third generation solar technology could help reduce our dependence on polluting fuels:

What is third generation solar technology?

The First Generation cells were of crystalline silicon, fairly highcost, manufactured in relatively small volumes. The II-Gen cells had higher efficiency, whether made of thin wafers or silicon. The III-Gen has more complex, integrated devices that can reduce reflection and capture more of the solar spectrum by using one or a combination of optical methods. They have a wide range.

What is the cost component of solar energy?

Cost components are photovoltaic (PV) modules, power electronics and installation. One-half of the total cost you pay would be the module cost. The rest is spread over the balance of the system including cabling and connectivity. As with any renewable energy option, solar power is not the cheapest of options; as production increases, however, the costs tend to decrease. The biggest adopter of PV solar energy is Germany. They have an established feed-in tariff system for a number of years now and it costs less because of economies of scale. India’s ministry of renewable energy is introducing a similar scheme to provide electricity grid connection to solar energy suppliers. You need to have a mix of renewable energy resources so that you don’t depend on any one source of electricity.

Are large land areas required to install PV modules?

It depends on the location. In Europe, PV modules are fixed on south-facing roofs. The UK Centre for Solar Energy Research has a facade of 1,000 square metres. Germany has installed solar panels on roofs of industrial buildings measuring up to 10,000 sq metre each.

China and India are now becoming manufacturing centres. A company in Kolkata, for instance, is working on an innovative technique to make PV modules with thin film made with cheaper, compound material to increase conversion efficiency. A UK-based company is to soon market a new type of portable plastic solar cell as low-cost mobile phone charger.

How can solar energy be stored?

There are two kinds of storage as far as solar energy is concerned: on-grid and off-grid. In the UK, it’s largely the on-grid that’s important. The DC electricity produced by PV modules are converted to AC in the grid. There’s two-way energy traffic. The building will supply electricity to the grid during the day and buy from it in the night. This is called feed-in tariff system. In India, there are different variations of the scheme. If you have large tracts of unproductive land that gets sunlight, it’s attractive from a seller’s viewpoint because you can feed energy to the grid and get paid for that without having to buy back.

Off-grid needs battery storage. This is important in India where you have the rural electrification scheme; solar energy can light up India’s villages. Solar energy would charge batteries that are then used to power lighting, television sets and refrigerators. Solar energy-charged batteries would be for high-efficiency lighting purposes and for other low-power domestic requirements.

Television, chats go on as before

Orkut, TV and long phone calls to friends are all a part of this teenager’s life, even as she gears up for the HSC exams. “I want my daughter to lead a normal life, even during the exams,’’ says Ashwini’s mother, Mamta Kulkarni.

The daughter of a pilot and a school vice-principal, Ashwini has faced little parental pressure before the exams. “Once a month, I take my daughter out for a movie to ensure she doesn’t panic,’’ says Kulkarni, who feels that children are already stressed during the exams, and it’s unfair for parents to stress them even further.

Mamta, or her husband Tushar, do not interfere in their daughter’s studies and allow her to revise her portion on her own.

ASHWINI KULKARNI
SM Shetty High School & Junior College, Powai
(Class XII)

Ashwini Kulkarni with her parents

Films help keep board blues at bay

The son of a policeman who is in charge of some of Mumbai’s highways, Vishesh says his parents have gone out of their way to ensure that he is in a relaxed frame of mind while studying for the board exam. Every few weeks his parents Sandhya and Rakesh send him to watch a film with friends.

Every alternate day, Vishesh goes down for a game of football with his friends. “Football really helps me concentrate on my studies,’’ says Vishesh.

“My parents have told me not to worry about the exams,’’ he adds. Vishesh appreciates his parents for their attitude towards his Class X exams, especially since he has seen other classmates crumble under pressure. “A friend of mine used to score 80 per cent in Class IX. His parents pressurised him to such an extent that he now scores only 50 per cent,’’ says Vishesh.

VISHESH SHARMA
Holy Family High School, Andheri
(Class X)

Vishesh Sharma with his mother

Not quantity, but quality time matters

Don’t study so much. Go out and do some exercise.’’ This certainly doesn’t sound like the kind of advice a typical father would give his daughter a few months before her Class X board examination. But that’s exactly what Shivika gets to hear from her dad.

“There has been no pressure on me to study. I’ve studied on my own without my parents ever pressurising me,’’ says Shivika.

And Shivika has taken her father Shirish’s advice rather seriously. She goes out for a walk whenever she can. “During the exams, a half-hour walk helps to clear my mind,’’ says Shivika.

A movie buff, Shivika says she has had to cut down on the number of films that she could manage to squeeze in during Class X, when compared with the previous year. “But I still watch a movie at least once or twice a month,’’ says Shivika, who loves catching the premier show of every film.

“I don’t think the quantity of time for which a child studies is important. A few hours of quality study make a lot more sense than studying the entire day at a stretch,’’ feels her mother Supriya. “I’ve seen kids studying from morning to night without really absorbing what’s in the textbook,’’ she adds. She has also encountered parents who fuss over the loss of a single mark in an exmaintaion, something she does not believe in.

SHIVIKA POONGLIA
JB Petit High School Fort
(Class X)

Shivika (second from right) with her family

Great scores are not a big deal

While Zara herself tends to get stressed over the ICSE, her parents are quick to remind her that exams are no big deal and certainly not worth losing sleep over. “They don’t want me to wake up before 7 am,’’ laughs Zara.

In fact, whenever she gets tense about the boards, her parents Reshad and Nilofer point out that they themselves were not high scorers in their board exams but are doing well in life anyway. Incidentally, her parents left well-paying corporate jobs to set up their own furniture business.

Unlike the funeral-like atmosphere in most homes when a child is studying for an examination, Zara’s parents insist on her attending all family functions, and even take her out for dinner twice a month. In fact, her parents don’t even plan to take a break from their work during Zara’s exams.

What’s more, they ensure she gets out of the house at least thrice a week for some exercise. “Either I go to the gym or for a walk,’’ she adds.

And Zara hasn’t missed out on movies while studying for the board exams. Every weekend she rents out a DVD. She manages all this in addition to her studies, not at the cost of them. “While I tend to pressurise myself, my parents are absolutely relaxed,’’ laughs Zara.

After every two hours of study, Zara’s mother calls her out of her room for a chat, just to make sure her daughter’s feeling fine.

ZARA RUSTOMJI
JB Petit High School Fort
(Class X)

Zara (extreme left) with her family

Study hard, party hard too PARENTS TELL KIDS

National Crime Records Bureau statistics (2007) show student suicides rose 6% across the country, most due to exam-related stress. TOI, however, finds some parents refuse to pressurise their kids though board exams are round the corner and are keen they don’t lose out on a childhood in pursuit of perfect scores

Music makes him calm

Jeffrey’s mother Volga has helped him prepare a study timetable that has a special one-hour slot reserved for playing football with his friends in the compound every day. It even has an hour slotted for computer games. He listens to music while studying and even makes time for a half hour of meditation. And after every hour of study, he takes a 30-minute break.

His parents, including father John, doesn’t think it’s a good idea for kids to study till late into the night. So even as Class X students elsewhere burn the m i d n i g h t oil, Jeffrey is asleep by 10 pm.

“It’s not important how high he scores. As long as he gives the exam his best shot, we’re happy,’’ says Volga.

JEFFREY NEELANKAVIL,
Holy Family High School, Andheri

(Class X) Football and friends make it fun
Sachin gets seven to eight hours of sleep a day, watches a movie a month and never misses his daily game of football even with the board exams just a month away. His parents Wilson and Betsey have told him that it’s OK if his marks aren’t too good.

“I think the pressure surrounding board exams is rather exaggerated, to the extent that children lose out on a childhood,’’ feels Sachin’s father. “I am happy that my son is relaxed and that he plays football everyday. If he doesn’t play at this age, when will he ever play? There needs to be a healthy mix of work and play in a child’s life.’’

“Relatives and collegaues felt Sachin’s year in Class X must have been very hectic for our family. They feel social life must be put on hold at a time like this. But this is something I do not believe in,’’ says Menezes. “While people expected me to be strict with Sachin and keep him away from parties and functions, I allowed him to attend them. I don’t think it makes sense to study continously without a break. I’m happy with the amount of study that he has put in,’’ he adds. Sachin’s two sibblings, as well as several friends in the building, have ensured that Class X was fun for him as any other year.

SACHIN MENEZES
Holy Family High School, Andheri
(Class X)

Kid’s ad film drives home message in online contest

Mahafreed Irani I TNN

Mumbai: A film shows a man speeding on his motorbike, enjoying the wind ruffling his hair when his cellphone starts ringing. So, with one hand on the bike handle, he digs into his pant pocket to remove his ringing phone. The camera zooms out just then to show, god of death Yamraj riding pillion with the phone in his hand. The bike skids and the rider is killed.

This short ad film—highlighting the dangers of driving while talking on a mobile—was just one of the many films, with a message for the public, which was screened on Monday. But what made the ad film festival different was the fact that all the films were made by students—some as young as 11 years old—for India’s first ad film-making contest on the internet.

Most participants used their pocket money to meet the film budgets, which ranged from as low as Rs 300 to as high as Rs 6,000. The money was spent on software for editing and the videotapes used.

More than 1.7 lakh online votes will now decide which seven of the short-listed contestants get to fly to Malaysia to make a film on Malaysian tourism.

The top nominees in categories like Best Public Service Ad, Best Celebrity Promotional Ad and Best Ad for Futuristic Products were showcased on Monday. Jury panel members were impressed, especially when they realised that more than 70% of the entries were in the Public Service Ad category.

When 15-year-old Hriday Bhatia saw children as old as him inhaling drugs in a parking lot, he was taken aback. Bhatia decided to direct a twominute film aimed at parents of drug abusers. Film-maker and former Mumbai sheriff Kiran Shantaram, who was a jury member, recalled the days when his father and founder of Prabhat Film Company, V Shantaram, didn’t have avant-garde technology to make films. “Greats like Raj Kapoor and Bimal Roy used to spend hours peeping into the camera viewfinder to get the perfect shot,’’ he said.

The contest was held by an online portal for children. Its event ambassador, Johnny Lever, said GenNext directors would take over the advertising industry.

THEY WANT TO LEARN BY TEACHING

More than 800 college students and young professionals have applied to Teach For India 2009

Namita Devidayal

Until recently, Garima Kapila, a management consultant with a leading multinational, was working in offices, analysing data, working with industry experts, and checking her client's progress in relation to the targets she had laid out for them. She loved her job but something was missing. She wanted more.

Suddenly, all that has changed. Now, the 24 year-old IIT graduate finds that even when she shuts down her laptop she can't stop thinking about work. Her first thoughts when she wakes up are, “What can I do to make this fantastic programme work? How can I get more applications in today?”

Kapila recently left her coveted consulting job to become the Mumbai director for Teach For India, an impassioned movement that is gradually becoming the buzzword in college campuses, which have been touched by it. Suddenly, students and even young professionals like Kapila are sitting up and saying, “We want to be the agents of change. We don’t consider this a compromise but, rather, a career enhancer.”

Teach For India is a programme based on Teach For America, which aims to narrow educational inequities by placing India's most outstanding college graduates and young professionals in low-income schools to teach for two years. The programme is being supported by some of the top corporates in the country, including McKinsey, Thermax and the Aditya Birla group and ICICI. These companies have agreed to send two young professionals (if they qualify), pay their stipend for the time they are away, and take them back in when they complete the teaching stint, simply because they believe that the challenge will enhance their capabilities.

So far, more than 4,000 people from cities across India have registered on the site, and about 800 have sent in their applications. In The selection process comprises a rigorous screening of applicants, followed by a daylong interview where the applicant will also have to go through the motions of teaching in a simulated classroom. The applicants include top performers from leading colleges as well as companies.

The initial applications are revealing. For instance, a student from a top Mumbai arts college wrote in her essay, “I want to be humbled by the responsibilities of being a teacher. I want to wake up early each morning knowing that I will be affecting lives today and sleep late at night hoping that I’ve done it the right way. I want to be struck with that glorious moment I’ve so often read about, but can only imagine, when the nobility and magnanimity of a career as a teacher strikes you. I want to spend my days carefully because I know that any mistake on my part could cause devastating consequences, that doing anything but my best is something I must practice first, then preach. I want to be TFI Fellow because I want to be given the opportunity to be educated.”

An analyst at a multinational wrote in thus: “Having been successful in my career thus far, I have now reached the point when I am ready to try something different. I want to help fire the Indian education revolution that is around the corner.” Teach For India founder Shaheen Mistri says that she is quite amazed by the kinds of questions and responses she has been getting while recruiting fellows for the 2009 teaching programme. People want to know more, they have their own skepticism which has made even us sit up and think. For instance, some want to know: Why are the placements only in urban areas? Why are the fellows being placed in schools given that the greatest inequity is among children who are not even in school? Why in the English language? Will this really bring about a systemic change?

But the underlying enthusiasm is unmistakable, says Mistri. “People are beginning to understand that as one person, I have such limited impact but by being a part of such a great network, one can really make a difference.”

GRADUATE SCHOOL PARTNERS
The Indian School of Business Sadhana Centre for Management and Leadership Development (SCMLD) SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR)

CORPORATE PARTNERS
Aditya Birla Group
AFL
Ambit
AZB Law
Citigroup
Forbes Marshall
Godrej
HDFC
HDFC Standard Life Insurance
Hindustan Unilever
ICICI Bank
ICICI Prudential
JSW Steel
Mastek
McKinsey & Company
Monitor Group
Tata Chemicals
Tata Power
Thermax
Zensar Technologies

Himachal set to become first carbon-free state

Priya Yadav

Chandigarh: Himachal Pradesh, which has mandated all government departments to begin the environment audit, is on its way to becoming the country’s first and the world’s second carbon-free state.

The people of Himachal will be expected to undergo lifestyle changes, according to the environment master plan and ‘Policy & Strategy on Climate Change & Harnessing Carbon Credits’. The policy will focus on the functioning of all departments, especially those involved in development. “We must ensure that the technology used for projects like road cutting and tunnel digging is not harmful to flora and fauna,’’ said Arun Sharma, secretary to CM P K Dhumal.

The plan entails a novel approach towards how civic bodies dispose off garbage and contractors involved hydel projects do away with the muck. The HP government will sign an MoU with the state of California in this regard. Over the years, India is expected to earn $2.27 billion from selling certified emissions reduction to the US. “The state will announce the implementation of its carbon neutral policy by March,’’ said environment and forest minister J P Nadda. “About 12,000 hectares have been made available for carbon credits. A validator from World Bank is to verify that this land is available for only growing trees.’’ Most of this land is under panchayats where at least four CFL bulbs have been distributed free of cost per family.

HOW GREEN IS MY VALLEY: The HP govt has framed a policy to start environment audits and ensure that technology used for development doesn’t harm flora & fauna

Quota leads to surge in OBC aspirants for IITs

Hemali Chhapia | TNN

Mumbai: As reservation for backward category students rises in the Indian Institutes of Technology, competition among them has also intensified. Of the 3.95 lakh applications that the IITs received from aspirants wanting to take the Joint Entrance Exam in April, close to 40% candidates—1.55 lakh—are in reserved categories. In 2007, a year before the IITs implemented the first phase of the 9% reservation for the Other Backward Caste category, 45,000 OBC students had applied to take the JEE. This year, more than 98,000 OBC candidates—26% of all aspirants—will take the JEE.

Bhaba Sarma, JEE chairman at IIT-Guwahati, which is organising this year’s exam, said, “About 75% of OBC applicants belong to the non-creamy layers. But this is preliminary data. We are yet to go through 16,000 applications received online.’’

SIMPLE MATHS
Number of JEE aspirants this year: 3.95 lakh
Aspirants in reserved category: 1.55 lakh (75% from non-creamy layer)
ercentage of reserved seats: 18 in 7 old IITs, 27 in 8 new IITs

CANDIDATES PER SEAT IN EACH CATEGORY 72 OBC 62 Open 40 SC 28 ST IITs lower bar for SC, ST students

Mumbai: This year, the seven old IITs will set aside 18% seats for OBC candidates, and the eight new ones will have 27% reservation for them. Last year, 1,134 OBC candidates qualified for admission at 13 IITs.

The tech schools did not have to lower the entry bar to fill seats reserved for OBC candidates. However, fearing that SC and ST seats may remain unfilled, IIT directors are allowing a 50% relaxation of scores in these categories from 2009, up from 40%.

For JEE 2009, the percentage of SC and ST candidates has gone up only marginally. More than 35,000 SC candidates have applied for 890 seats reserved for them at 15 IITs. And over 12,000 ST students will battle it out for 434 spots.

A faculty member from IITBombay pointed out that the number of ST applicants has always been low. “Forms are available to them at half-price, but few ST candidates feel they have the academic capability to get into the IITs. However, when we conduct the preparatory course for some of these students, we find some really bright ones amongst them. Most of them really just have a problem in communicating in English,’’ he added.

IIT sources said the number of OBC applicants has gone up dramatically with the government raising the income ceiling for non-creamy candidates from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 4.5 lakh. Former director of IITMadras P V Indiresan felt that reservation was the sole reason for OBC applications going up. He said, “I can’t think of any other reason why so many candidates would apply.’’

Echoing his thoughts was IIT-Guwahati director Gautam Barua, who said that students across the country were now aware that a reservation policy was in place. “An OBC student who scored 80% or 85% will psychologically feel that he has a better chance to get into the IITs now that there’s reservation.’’ With so many OBC applicants, the IITs may be able to fill all the seats reserved in that category, he added.

The stakes in this exam are going to be high for OBC students as well as those from the general category. Close to 90,000 OBC students from the noncreamy layer will compete for 1,245 seats (72 aspirants to a seat). And close to 2.3 lakh general category candidates will vie for 3,728 spots (62 hopefuls per seat).

In the 2008 JEE, if the last general category student was admitted with an overall score of 172 out of 489, the aggregate cut-off for an SC/ST student was 104 (after a 40% relaxation). If the general category cut-off remains the same this year, the bar for SC/ST candidates will be lowered to 86 (50% of 172). Subject-wise cut-offs would be similarly affected.

Like last year, the number of students planning to take the JEE has risen by over 30%. The Mumbai zone has the highest number of applicants, followed by Chennai, Kharagpur and Delhi.

2006-2008 are the number of students who took the JEE from each zone
JEE 2009 refers to applications received by the IITs (online applications not included) for JEE 2009 to be held in April 2009 (The IIT reserve 15% and 7.5% seats in each program for the scheduled caste and scheduled tribes respectively. Starting 2008, all IITs set aside seats for the Other Backward Classes; most IITs reserved 9% seats for OBCs in 2008.)

Start-up firms march into IIT to woo freshers

Hemali Chhapia I TNN

Mumbai: Head hunters from start-ups are usually elbowed out by the bigwigs during placement season at Indian Institutes of Technology, when fancy compensation figures win the day. But this time, it’s a different story.

Of the 600 students graduating from IIT-Bombay this year, more than 140 have signed up for interviews to be taken by new venture firms on Sunday.

Sixteen of these young firms, including Maharaja Games, Pagalguy.com, IWeb, Hidden Reflex, Redb-us.in, Zice and Naaptol.com, landed at the Powai campus on Saturday. And, their aim was to convince the freshers of how important they would be for the development of these newventure groups.

Cyrus Vesvikar from the institute’s entrepreneurship cell said, “IIT-Bombay students placed in these start-ups will be directly absorbed in the core teams of the companies, which will offer them an opportunity to take decisions at the highest level and face the toughest of challenges, something that a big firm will not let them do at the beginning.”

Akash Dongre, COO of Mofirst, said, “Freshers will become industry-ready right from the first day as they will face the toughest of the challenges. We basically save the time big firms spend on training.’’

For the start-up firms, Vimal Shah, head of Animedia said, having IIT students work there would definitely enhance their performance.

And to top it all, the startups are offering not just toplevel posts to the freshers, but also quite a decent compensation package. “This year, we plan to get almost 40 students placed in new firms. That would be tough considering that most of the freshers have already been placed by now. But looking at the enthusiasm among students, we feel we would get as many to join lesser known companies,’’ Vesvikar added.

Teens get a taste of business

Anahita Mukherji | TNN

Mumbai: Those who launch a new business during an economic downturn can hardly expect their product to sell like hot cakes—unless, of course, the product is hot cakes. A bunch of Class XI commerce students in the city has got into the entrepreneurial spirit, and is gaining hands-on business experience running its new company, which manufactures brownies.

The 16-year-old commerce students from RN Podar school, Santa Cruz, put their heads together to create their own company, complete with a CEO, board of directors and shareholders. The five directors pooled in their own money, a grand total of Rs 3,750. They generated an equal amount by selling shares in the company to their classmates. “We used the money to set up Brownies Inc. We bought two ovens and an egg beater, and rented a classroom from the school at Rs 200 per month. That’s where we manufacture the brownies,’’ says CEO Arnav Singh Bisht.

The purchase team buys the ingredients, the production team bakes the brownies, and the sales team walks around school with trays of the finished product, priced at Rs 10 a piece.

Brownies Inc is part of the company project begun by Junior Achievement (JA), an organisation that works with schools nationwide to give students a taste of the outside world, so that they’re better prepared for choosing a career. JA has started a similar project in a school in Chandigarh, and another one in Bangalore. The board of Brownies Inc initially consisted of both students and a few teachers and members of JA. But within the first few weeks of the company’s formation, school authorities pulled back and let students take their own decisions.

“The company is doing really well, but the most important part of this exercise is for students to develop interpersonal skills as well as to grasp issues related to scaling up a company and maintaining quality control,’’ says Ramesh Krishnamurthy, who heads JA’s western region operations.

A few days ago, the two-month-old Brownies Inc suffered a setback. “A whole batch of brownies didn’t turn out well, and we had to discard it,’’ says one of the directors, Risheeta Agrawal.

BROWNIE COMPANY Student-run firm has plans to diversify into carrot cake

Mumbai: Brownies Inc, a company launched by Class XI commerce students of R N Podar school, Santa Cruz, recently survived its first setback, when an entire batch of brownies had to be thrown away, resulting in a loss. “We decided to discard them all the same and write off our loss, because we didn’t want to compromise on quality. And we thought it would be unethical to provide our customers with a product that wasn’t good enough,’’ says Brownies Inc’s 16-year-old CEO, Arnav Singh Bisht.

For production team member Haren Paul Rao, the recent mishap was heart-breaking, especially as the brownies are baked during the students’ free periods.

The company has been a huge success at the school, as students of all ages readily fork out their pocket money on the freshlybaked brownies. The school even hired Brownies Inc for its annual day function, buying brownies from its students.

Encouraged by its success with brownies, the company is considering branching out into carrot cake as well. “Many students are weight-conscious, and one can’t stay slim eating brownies everyday. So we thought carrot cake may be a good idea, especially since carrots are cheap,’’ adds Risheeta.

Working for Brownies Inc is no labour of love—students in all the departments of the company, except the board of directors, receive a salary ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 20 per session.

Podar school principal Avnita Bir says the exercise has helped students get hands-on experience of what they read in their textbooks. “They have a better understanding of what it means to form a company, raise capital and sign MoUs,’’ she adds.

The young entrepreneurs of Brownies Inc are very attached to their creation. “We’ll continue working for the company even in Class XII. Eventually, we may sell the company to our juniors,’’ says Risheeta.

SUCCESS IS SWEET: Brownies Inc entrepreneurs display their product.